ALEX SPEAKS: “I take photos because I want people to know how I see certain things/places/people through my eyes. I’ve always found the different ways people see/perceive things in life really interesting. I always try to create a painting when I take photos, like those old renaissance paintings with a million different things happening but everything is shown in detail and you can stare at it for hours and find new things in the photo every time you look at it. And sometimes the opposite, there’s only one thing going on in the photo but somehow you can’t stop looking at it. That’s how I see things in life sometimes, i just sometimes want to stare at things for long periods of time just taking in every detail. I guess that’s why I take photos, ‘why don’t you take a picture, it will last longer’.” “I’d consider myself an artist. No denying it. I create. It’s what I do and what I’ve always liked to do since I was a kid. If anybody creates anything or …

There’s a time of day, where reason and rational erodes in the tired mind. When the night sky begins to take on that slight hue of blue light. When the miasma of the unconscious surfaces and lets loose hope and desire. The witching hour. These are six images I have taken, all during the night. They are the ramblings and thoughts that I have had, in places or things I see everyday. Thoughts, mental mumblings in a state of solitude — during mitternacht, midnight. when my mother is asleep and the dog is at bay through my window I’ll climb Into the yellow moth light of the street lamp I’ll climb Portraits of people hung on houses Families eating Couples fighting A lone man Blue light dancing across his lone face What pleasure! That I can see into the hearts of the estranged empty faces passing — constantly How I can see, but they can’t I

RAIN by Alice Xu The sun burns cold in October & the cloth curved between my thighs catches rain. Beneath my palm: Rosalie’s cross. Bible once beneath. My body, spread out on sapped autumn oak. The cusp of middle-aged rust, rusting like last year’s sycamore leaves. I dream of Louis rubbing his neck & churchyards emptying their stomachs as the sun waits for a funeral. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Alice Xu is a high school senior who adores Jane Austen and her novels. She currently serves as a Co-Editor in Chief for her high school’s literary magazine, a Genre Editor for Polyphony H.S., and an Editorial Intern for The Blueshift Journal. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Textploit, Phosphene Literary Journal, The Riveter Review, and elsewhere. Photographs by Hana Tyszka Illustration by Eric Anaya

ERIC SPEAKS: “I didn’t seeing photos in a serious light until I was in High School. The thing I love the most about photos is the simplicity to making a beautiful image. An absolutely lovely photo can be taken as quick as a second, capturing the entire scene, a feeling, an energy, or even an aesthetic. It could be anything too! A boy picking his nose on his father’s shoulders, a haggard man’s shadow pursuing a bank’s granite wall. Even a freckled woman eating a bowl of chow mein. Honestly. If you can frame the mundane to look interesting or eye-taking, that’s something that should really be appreciated.” “I’ve always enjoyed illustrating, before it was just a lot of doodles and sheet paper drawings. I used to go into things with a plan. I knew what I wanted to draw and was upset when it didn’t come out how I liked to. It was only until just a couple of days ago, when me and a couple of friends settled in Berkeley for some days. It was …

“Still Life” was taken with a Canon 5d Mark II, 50 mm lens. MADELINE SPEAKS: “These are all digital photos which I did for a still life project in my photography class, but I really enjoyed doing them and how they came out so I will probably continue it! I wanted to create something whimsical with bright color. I was first inspired by my roommates retainer and other food photography. I thought it would be funny to pair it with gummy teeth and it totally took off from there! I noticed other candy at the store and kept getting inspired.” ABOUT MADELINE: “I’m 20 years old, but began being interested in photography when I was about 5. My first camera was a pink special edition Barbie Polaroid. I started becoming serious about a career in photography in my second year of high school. In the past I mostly focused on film and dark room photography, but I’m currently working more with my digital camera because of the ease and practicality. I’m from Los Angeles, but just …